Article-feeding mechanism



L. L. SALFISB'ERG.

ARTICLE FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1920.

1,435,743. Patentefl Nov. M, 1922 6 AR g 20 5 29 @etented Nov. 14-, W22.

PATENT @FFHQE.

LEROY L. sALrIsBEnc, or NEWARK, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO wens-LEECOMPAILW,

or NEWARK, new JERSEY, A conronn'rron or DELAWARE.

ARTICLE-FEEDING ranonamsn Application filed June 5, 1920. Serial-Ito.386,828.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat- I," LEROY. L. SAmisnnRo, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State ofNew Jersey,haVeinvented' -an Improve: ment in Article-FeedingMechanism,' of whichthe following is a specification.

tion with packaging machines,*': mjore pa'i- .ticularly of the typedesigned-to package articles such as candies, medicinal tablets and thelike. One object of the invention is to facilitate and control thedistribution of articles as they are withdrawn from a hopper and in sucha manner that there I will be a reliable and continuous supply ofarticles presented in position for permanent packaging.

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawingsaccompanying the present specification, and in which Figure 1 is a topplan view, and

Figure2, a View in vertical section on the line '22 of Figure 1.

Referring-to the drawings, the articles to be ackaged may convenientlybe held in a hopper 1 having a laterally constricted discharge Jpassage2and a substantially coneshaped bottom portion 3 interposed between thehopper 1 and the dischar e passage 2. An article defiectlng mem er 4 isarranged within the container opposite the entrance to thepassage 2 andspaced therefrom suficiently to allow articles to move fromthe mainportion of the container into the constricted portion without, however,having the entire weight of the overlying articles bearing directly uponthose which have already found their way into the constricted portion 2.An article carrying platen 5 is arranged opposite the discharge openingof the passage 2 and extends beyond the edges of said opening, saidplaten being mounted for rotation to impart centrifugal motion toarticles which have been moved through the passageway into position onthe upper or supporting surface of the platen. This surface is preferably enclosed in a housing having a lateral wall 6 and a transversewall 7, said transyerse wall overlying, the upper or support ng surfaceof the platen and spaced therefrom topermit the free movement ofarticles across'sal'd surface in a predetermined relatlve POSltiOIlL Asindicated in Figure 2, the

lateralor upright wall 6 of the housing is ,provided w1th a threadedportion 8 which engages a similarly'threaded portion 9 of 'thetransverseor upper wall 7. Thus, by

moving one threaded portion with respect fto the other, the distancebetween the upper or supporting surface of the platen and the interioror lower surface of the wall 7 may be varied to accommodate articles ofdifferent slzes. The platen 5 is shown with a hollow interiorly threadedcentrally arranged hub 10 adapted to receive the threaded endof a shaft11 carrying a gear 12 which may be driven by any suitable means notshown. A nut 13 threaded on the shaft 11 and engaging a face of the hub10 may be utilized to fasten the platen securely on the end of the shaftat any desired position of vertical adjustment thereon. Thus, byrotating the shaft 11, the platen 5 is rotated and accordingly moves thesupported articles away from its center and into position to beintercepted by a take-off chute 14, indicated in dotted lines in Figure1, said chute being substantiallv tangential with respect to the-platen5. The inner or open end of said chute thus receives articles as theyare forced from the ra idly rotating platen. The opposite end of thechute is closed but the articles are permitted to be dischargedtherefrom through an opening in the bottom wall of the chute arrangedadjacent to the terminal stop 15 thereof, said opening, in the presentembodiment of my invention, communicating with a passageway 16 in a gear17 normally meshing with a toothed portion of the platen 5. A sleeve 18having a flanged portion 19 is mounted in a bearing 20 and is adapted torotate with the gear 17 when the latter is actuated by the rotation ofthe platen 5. A flexible conduit 21 may be secured to the lower ordischarge end of the sleeve 18 and in position to receive articles asthey are forced through said sleeve from the chute 14:, said articlesbeing conveyed by, said conduit into such position article engaging ordisplacing arms or pins 23, said arms being arranged to engage anddisplace in succession articles as they are discharged from thedischarge end of the flexible conduit 21. The discharge end of saidconduit may conveniently be secured to a sleeve 24. rotatably mounted ina rigid member 25 which also carries an article supporting platform 26arranged in position to receive articles as they are fed throu h thedischarge opening and to present t e same in the path of the rotatingpins 23.

To prevent or minimize the clogging or jamming of the articles as theycome in contact with the upper or supporting surface of the platen 5, asuitable agitator may be provided, shown in the present case as arolling member, such as a ballbearing 27, supported on the upper surfaceof the platen and extending into the discharge opening of theconstricted portion 2 of the hopper. In operation, it is contemplatedthat one or several of these agitators may be set in motion by therotation of the platen and will serve to expedite the movement of thetablets or other articles toward the supporting surface of the platen.

The device herein described also provides means for convenientlydisposing of dust or relatively small particles of the material beingpackaged. Thus, the upright or lateral Wall 6 may be provided with aperforation 28 positioned adjacent to the peripheral edge of the platen5 so that particles which are thrown from the upper surface of saidplaten by reason of the centrifugal force operating during rotationthereof will move through said perforation and may be collected in atrough shaped member 29 arranged in particle receiving relation to theopening 28. The peripheral extent of said opening 28 may vary to meetdifferent conditions.

From the foregoing description, it will be clear that the presentinvention affords a feeding mechanism which is capable of continuousoperation at high speed and at a relatively uniform rate. Furthermore,the articles are subjected to a relatively small amount of impact and itis thus possible to utilize the device in the feeding of relativelyfragile tablets or tablets of relatively loose texture withoutprohibitive breakage.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an article feeding mechanism, the combinationv of a hopper havinga bottom discharge opening, a rotatable article carrying platen inarticle receiving relation to said opening and extending beyond theedges thereof, a housing enclosing the article supporting surface, ofthe platen, said housing having an opening adjacent to the peripheraledge of the platen to permit the pamage of dust and particles of lessthan predetermined dimension.

2. In an article feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper havinga'bottom discharge opening, a rotatable article carrying platen inarticle receiving relation to said opening and extending beyond theedges thereof, a housing enclosing the article supporting surface of theplaten, said platen being adjustable with respect to a Wall of thehousing to accommodate articles of different sizes.

3. In an article feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper having abottom discharge opening, a rotatable article carrying platen in articlereceiving relation to said opening and extending beyond the edgesthereof, a housing enclosing the article supporting surface of theplaten and having a wall spaced from said surface, said wall beingmovable toward and away from said surface to accommodate articles ofdifferent sizes.

4. In an article feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper having abottom discharge opening, a rotatable article can rying platen inarticle receiving relation to said opening and extending beyond theedges thereof, and a rolling agitator freely movable on the platen.

5. In an article feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper having abottom discharge opening. a rotatable article carrying platen in articlereceiving relation to said opening and extending beyond the edgesthereof, and a rolling agitator supported by the platen and extendinginto the bottom discharge opening of the container.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification thissecond day of June, 1920.

LEROY L. SALFISBERG.

